


In the Middle

by tiffthom



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Divorce, Drama, F/M, Marriage, Murder, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 23:47:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10627716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiffthom/pseuds/tiffthom
Summary: She was caught in the middle of something she couldn’t explain. Saiyan men were like that; mysterious and scary as hell.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic years ago and never finished it. I hate when that happens. It’s been on my mind lately since I’ve been trying to incorporate dark themes back into my writing, and I want to finish it this time. Updates will probably be slow because I’m just bad at it. However, I think I already had about eight chapters completed. I just need to revise them. One way or another though, I will finish this fic this time around.

* * *

_**“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” — Henry David Thoreau** _

To her family and friends, the hell she locked inside was quiet. It didn’t rave. It wasn’t understood. It wasn’t perceived. It was, in fact, quiet desperation, but she heard her racing heartbeat so loudly and felt, at any moment, that her eardrums would burst. She even believed her perilous and desperate thoughts reached the consciousness of others.

The woman she wanted to be screamed for liberation, but there wasn’t a key to unlock her cell. She dug her nails into the idea of freedom, but there was no path set before her. She was too much in her own way, trapped between the hell her life personified and the void of uncertainty.

The next move, just one more foot in front of the other, felt like stepping into the ocean. Would she ever be happy?

Things hadn’t always been so grim. At one time, she was young and in love—or she thought it was love. Goku was the epitome of strength. His innocence and willingness to protect flooded her with thoughts of matrimony and eternity. Nothing could dirty her dreams of happily ever after even if there was something about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Once they were married, that _something_ threatened to banish her to the wasteland of insanity. Chi Chi didn’t expect him to be so clueless. Goku had no idea what marriage was, and that wasn’t the worst of it. He couldn’t conceptualize commitment. A wife and two children weren’t enough to make him stay. He barely remained true to the words that came out of his mouth. He wasn’t the brightest man.

After more than ten years of marriage, Chi Chi’s quiet desperation threatened a very audible outpouring. She coached herself to get it together. Goku had never been anyone but Goku. Consistent inconsistence was a part of his charm. She’d simply made the mistake of thinking she wanted that, but the honeymoon always wears off and then, where is there to go?

She couldn’t keep lying. Raising her voice one more time over a broken dish, or a sweaty article of clothing thrown on the kitchen table became desperately desired things compared to what really chipped away at her longevity. It was the deaths that lasted too long, and his unpredictable rage. Sometimes she withered under his crushing might while he just thrived. Even with a massacred planet, a few Saiyans _still thrived_. 

He wanted to vanquish aliens more than he wanted to gently embrace her. His cheerful goofiness had everyone fooled. Almost a year passed since they were intimate, and each time she proposed it, he’d don that grin as big as a half moon, slide a hand behind his head boyishly, and whine, “Aww, Chi Chi, I’m worn out from training. Can you believe Gohan is so strong at his age? He actually gave me a run for my money…”

Often, she drowned out the rest of his excuses, rolled over, and let every sordid thought bring her to some kind of release. Deprived and tepidly sustained, she was left wanting and craving more. It went on that way for many more years. Then one day, she put her foot down, and he didn’t take very kindly to it. Abnormal cracks in the kitchen wall told all of their secrets. Her desperation waxed insistent on revealing itself.

But it couldn’t make an appearance.

Everyone would find out. They would know she wasn’t happy with the universe’s savior. They would know she wished him truly dead. No voices from the sky, surprise visits or resurrections. Just gone and forgotten like a butterfly cut down.

Gohan had grown accustomed to the bitterness, and wore it like clothing. Goten could subsist on stories that painted his dead father in vibrant colors. He didn’t need to know the rest. A lullaby about the great Son Goku wasn’t required for them to sleep at night.

Chi Chi ran a sturdy ship, never muttering a complaint or shedding tears over her faraway first love. They’d evaporated with the rest of her affection.

But the escape was as false as her happiness had been. _Goku returned._

Another threat was eliminated and he wanted to come home. Gohan let up, convincing her that perhaps he’d do right by Goten, but she knew better. She knew him best. Dirty clothes and a penchant for eating whole villages weren’t Goku’s only flaws, and her old wounds sung at the recollection.

“For the boys,” she chanted. “If he really is back, then maybe he’ll be different with them.”

And the Son family settled back into its life looking normal and happy even though nothing had changed.

* * *

**_Two Years Later_ **

Another minute frittered away. The sterile scent of the house nearly made her wretch, but Goku was nothing if not a certified slob so the stench of cleaning supplies was an old friend.

He still believed she was ignorant of what he’d done; that he destroyed her last chance at true love and happiness. Perhaps, he was well aware, but preferred to play her as he always had.

It was still a game to him, kind of like his training sessions. He’d managed to turn his entire life into a childish intrigue, and he enjoyed reining Chi Chi in from the sidelines to play with him.

Parenthood, just like sparring, remained two sides of the same coin, something that brought him great enjoyment, but nonetheless tired him out. And when Goku was tired, he took a break. 

Her sons still suffered, and she soaked her pillows in tears because of her frailty. It wouldn’t be over until he wanted it to be.

If only she hadn’t asked for a divorce, and fallen in love with his rival, things would be different. Maybe reason would have gotten through to him, and Vegeta would still be alive.

Wherever she turned, the way was dark like Saiyans and their pride.


End file.
